Russia BREAKS US Cuba Oil Blockade
Quick Read
Summary
Takeaways
- ❖The US oil blockade, tightened under Trump and continued by Biden, has led to nationwide energy blackouts and critical shortages in Cuba.
- ❖Cuban hospitals, once highly regarded, now lack basic medical supplies, from antibiotics and syringes to spare parts for essential equipment.
- ❖Doctors must resort to manual ventilation during power outages and cannot perform surgeries requiring specific imported devices.
- ❖The case of Carlos, a 9-year-old with cystic fibrosis, exemplifies the crisis; he is dying because a life-saving drug (Triricafta) is unavailable due to sanctions.
- ❖A Russian oil shipment offers only a temporary, one-month supply, highlighting Cuba's broader inability to engage in normal international trade.
- ❖The hosts argue that the deliberate intent of the sanctions is to cause widespread suffering among Cubans to incite an overthrow of the government.
- ❖Cuban citizens, including healthcare workers, face daily struggles with lack of electricity, fuel, and running water, compounding the professional challenges.
Insights
1US Blockade Cripples Cuban Healthcare Infrastructure
The US oil blockade, intensified since 2019, has led to severe energy shortages and a lack of hard currency, preventing Cuba from importing essential medical supplies and raw materials. Hospitals experience frequent blackouts, forcing staff to manually operate ventilators for infants and move patients during surgeries. A German-made 3D printer, acquired during a brief period of normalized relations, is now inoperable due to an inability to obtain spare parts.
A pediatric hospital in Havana experienced a PM blackout, requiring manual ventilation for babies on life support (). A 5-year-old boy undergoing surgery had to be moved to another facility when the generator failed (). A German 3D printer for unique medical devices cannot get spare parts due to sanctions ().
2Life-Saving Medication Denied to Critically Ill Children
The inability to import medications due to sanctions directly results in the death of children with treatable conditions. A specific example is Carlos, a 9-year-old with cystic fibrosis, who requires the drug Triricafta. This medication, known to normalize the lives of CF patients, is unavailable in Cuba, leading to palliative care and a slow death, despite its existence and effectiveness.
Carlos, a 9-year-old with cystic fibrosis, is receiving palliative care and 'withering and dying' because the life-saving drug Triricafta is unobtainable due to Cuba's lack of hard currency from sanctions (). A host's neighbor's child with CF was 'basically within like a month a normal kid' after taking Triricafta ().
3Sanctions' Intent: Inciting Regime Change Through Suffering
The hosts and guests explicitly state that the US sanctions, particularly those tightened by Trump and Rubio, are not merely economic pressure but a deliberate strategy to inflict suffering on ordinary Cubans. The goal is to generate anger and frustration among the populace, hoping they will overthrow the Cuban government and replace it with a US-favored regime.
Brace Beldin states, 'My government, Marco Rubio and Donald Trump. This is the intended result of this... The goal here of hurting regular Cubans... is to make his family that survives angry at the government so that they then go into the streets and overthrow the Cuban government.' ()
4Cuban Doctors Face Impossible Triage Decisions
Due to extreme resource scarcity, Cuban healthcare authorities are forced to make agonizing triage decisions, prioritizing care for the majority over individuals with rare or complex conditions. This means children with specific, treatable diseases like cystic fibrosis are often left without care because the limited national budget must serve a broader population.
Liz Oliva Fernandez explains, 'If the country only have 100 bucks, they need to be sure that they are can helping the most of the people... Carlos and other kids... have also specific disease that they use the Cuban government used to buy medication just for them and now they just they need to do triage.' ()
Bottom Line
Individual action can bypass systemic blockades, but it's not a sustainable solution.
One of the hosts, Brace Beldin, personally arranged for Triricafta medication to be delivered to Carlos in Cuba after realizing his neighbor had surplus. This saved the boy's life temporarily.
While not a scalable solution, this highlights the potential for direct humanitarian aid and grassroots efforts to circumvent political barriers in crisis situations, though it underscores the inadequacy of such individual efforts against a large-scale blockade.
Lessons
- Educate yourself and others on the specific human impacts of economic sanctions, using examples like the Cuban healthcare crisis.
- Advocate for policy changes that prioritize humanitarian concerns over political objectives in foreign relations, particularly regarding access to medicine and essential goods.
- Support independent journalism and organizations like Belly of the Beast Cuba to get firsthand accounts from regions affected by geopolitical conflicts and sanctions.
Notable Moments
Visit to William Solair Pediatric Hospital during a blackout.
Illustrates the immediate, life-threatening impact of energy shortages on critical medical care, forcing doctors to manually ventilate infants.
The story of the 5-year-old boy undergoing surgery during a generator failure.
Highlights the extreme conditions Cuban surgeons operate under and the increased risks of infection and complications due to lack of reliable power.
The inability to use a 3D printer for medical devices due to lack of spare parts.
Demonstrates how sanctions stifle innovation and self-sufficiency in healthcare, even when Cuba attempts to find alternative solutions.
The case of Carlos, the 9-year-old with cystic fibrosis, and the Triricafta medication.
This is the most poignant example of the direct, fatal consequences of the blockade on a specific child with a treatable condition, making the abstract concept of sanctions tangible.
The arrival of a Russian oil tanker in Cuba.
Provides a brief, temporary relief to the fuel crisis but also underscores Cuba's reliance on distant, politically aligned nations due to US restrictions on closer trade.
Quotes
"Even when we don't have babies on ventilators, we react instinctively. We're like, 'Oh my god, we have like we have to rush to the babies.'"
"If you talk to doctors in in Cuba and Havana, everyone's going to say, 'Oh, the the the things start to go worse after the the COVID pandemic.' But of course because in 2019... the United States government... start to implemented new sanctions and screw the tools to the Cuban government to try to suffocate the country in general."
"The Cubans are sort of admired, I think, by Americans for their improvisation, but the the thing is they shouldn't have to improvise. It's like you should be able to get, you know, tubes and bed pans and and bags for medication and the medication itself. But but they can't."
"This kid is dying. And if he had been born a hundred miles from here, he'd be just fine, you know? And addicted to Minecraft or whatever."
"My government, Marco Rubio and Donald Trump. This is the intended result of this... The goal here of hurting regular Cubans... is to make his family that survives angry at the government so that they then go into the streets and overthrow the Cuban government."
"If the country only have 100 bucks, they need to be sure that they are can helping the most of the people. the majority of the people with this only 100 bucks and Carlos and other kids... There are other people that have also specific disease that they use the Cuban government used to buy medication just for them and now they just they need to do triage."
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